Happy Tuesday! It seems like we’ve finally convinced summer to come to Portland and I’m so excited! It’s been dark, cloudy, cold and rainy here for far too long; I’ll probably be complaining that it’s too hot soon. Never satisfied.
How was your Father’s Day? We took my dad to a local Peruvian restaurant for lunch and it was amazing. I think we all ate more than we should have, but it was so good it was hard to stop. He’s a hard guy to get gifts for, so I decided to do what I do best and bake him a Father’s Day gift. After rummaging around my kitchen for ingredients, these chocolate hazelnut biscotti were born!
Studded with local toasted hazelnuts and drizzled with chocolate, these biscotti are Oregon in biscotti form. They’re pretty quick and easy to pull together so if you’re like me and ever struggle with gift-giving, you can whip these up and amaze just about anyone.
I’m honestly just here to help you all bake your way to someone’s heart. It works, trust me.
Hazelnuts might be my favorite nut. I don’t know exactly what it is about them, but I feel like I could probably eat them all day. They work so well in these biscotti and pair perfectly with a little hint of almond from the almond extract. Channel your inner Oregonian and grab yourself some hazelnuts. You won’t be disappointed.
Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. almond extract
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- Pinch nutmeg
- 1/2 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a baking sheet; set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter & sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Gently mix in toasted hazelnuts.
- Divide dough in half and form into long, flat loaves about 1/2" tall and 12" long. Place both loaves on prepared baking sheet, about 2" apart.
- Bake for 25 minutes, until a light golden brown. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire rack for 5 minutes.
- Using a serrated knife, cut into slices on a slight diagonal about 1/2" wide. Put slices on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, turning over halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Place chocolate chips in a small, microwave-safe bowl. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 20-30 seconds, until smooth. Drizzle the chocolate over cooled biscotti (or spread chocolate on the bottom side of each cookie). Let stand at room temperature until set.
